OBFS Website Redesign Project
The purpose of the OBFS Website Redesign Project is to create a new business and finance website that has the proper branding and visual elements consistent with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the updated University of Illinois System branding. The goal is to improve the user experience of finding critical information for the performance of financial responsibilities and increased efficiency.
The initial phase started in Spring 2021 and was an inventory gathering of website content to help audit, analyze, document and migrate content to the new website.
- Content Inventory - The first effort initiated by the project team was to develop a complete and accurate inventory of the OBFS website to document all ownership of content on the site. A round of interviews was conducted with business and finance units that own content on the site.
- After the interviews were completed, the inventory process began. This effort resulted in the documentation of over 1,300 webpages and connecting those pages with a specific unit that is the content owner.
- Community Engagement (focus groups and surveys)
- The project team developed and delivered a survey in Fall 2020 focused on the usability of the current site and users’ opinions of the site. The survey was also used as means to select representative samples of employees to participate in focus groups about the current site.
- In the spring of 2021, the project team expanded the usability analysis effort to gather more information about issues users experience when using the existing site in order to develop our final design recommendations. The team began by creating and distributing a second survey focused on functionality based on user needs.
Phase 2 - Design and Development
This phase consists of validating the findings from Phase I and implementing user recommendations, based on multiple surveys and focus groups, into a design that will accommodate the content. The website design will have a user-friendly interface with easy to navigate menus and an intuitive search engine. In Phase 2 we plan to organize content by function, not by units. This recommendation is based on community feedback.
Content Navigation
- As we fine-tune content organization of the new Business and Finance website, we looked for guidance from stakeholders on what community members may struggle with while navigating content on the OBFS website.
- Individual meetings are scheduled with units to review content organization and navigation.
- The navigation on the B&F Website will be reimagined and based on topics founded in business community’s tasks. It will not be based on the responsible units, like it is today. Instead of seeing “UAFR” or “UPAY” in the navigation, you will see topics such as “University Financials”, “Buying and Contracts“, “Paying People”, etc. This is based on the community’s feedback, following extensive user testing and validation process.
Stakeholder (5/25) and Customer Advisory Group (5/26) Meetings: Notes and Recording
Project team shared preliminary mock-ups of the new Business and Finance website based on the wireframes we had shared in previous meetings. These mock-ups included the main topic-based navigation as outlined below under the main navigation section.
You’ll also notice:
- Streamlined content with less text,
- pages designed with user in mind, and an
- expanded B&F Applications section with explanations for many of the applications (such as Chrome River).
We continue to work with stakeholders and CAG on content clean-up and review, and this will be an ongoing process. Look for communications coming soon about some of the features which will be an enhancement from the old OBFS website, such as the new search function.
Main Navigation
The topic-based navigation will be broken into six high level sections as follows:
- Accounting and Budgeting
- Buying and Contracts
- Paying People
- Travel
- Equipment Management
- Payments to the University (under consideration)
For more on the Business and Finance units, there will be an improved About Us section on the website as well.
New Features and Testing
There will be a pilot/test environment for both Business and Finance news and the website, to search for bugs and validate the new design.
Thank you for your continued commitment and engagement with the OBFS Website Redesign Project.
Next Meetings
- Stakeholder: 6/29
- Customer Advisory Group: 6/30
Resources
Current Meeting
Previous Meetings
Stakeholder (4/27) and Customer Advisory Group (4/28) Meetings: Notes and Recording
Since our last update, we continue to work with stakeholders and CAG on feedback on navigation and website redesign as well as a deeper dive into the website content review. We are also excited to soon begin communicating some of the features that will be an enhancement from the old OBFS website such as the new search function.
Content Review
Up until recently the focus of the project team has been on navigation and now it is time to move to a thorough content review. Regular meetings are being conducted with unit subject matter experts (SME) regarding content to ensure it is easily accessible and users can navigate specific content easily. The SMEs and users will do multiple rounds of testing during design and implementation before moving forward.
New Features and Testing
With the new website comes an improved and redefined Search functionality that will be an exciting improvement to users. Business and Finance News communications will migrate to Webtools, also improving search capabilities on that end. Testing will be conducted on both B&F news and the Website, to get the bugs out and allow comfort with the process.
New Production, Development, and Test sites are being developed to test navigation and layout. More to come!
March 2023 Update
- Phase 1 Recap - During Phase 1 website inventory and content ownership was conducted to determine who owns the pages and information. Peer websites were also reviewed to make the best decisions we can moving forward.
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Phase 2 - Content owner survey and navigation exercises were used to help identify areas of topic navigation that users struggle with and help determine the overall layout including hub pages, topics structure, homepage, application section, search, etc.
The high-level basic navigation topics being considered are:
- University Financial
- Buying and Contracts
- Paying People
- Travel
- Equipment Management
- Accepting Gifts and Money
Next meetings
- Stakeholder: 4/27
- Customer Advisory Group: 4/28
February 2023 Update
- Feb. 2023, Navigation Test - Two groups of stakeholders were asked to complete a brief exercise to help the project team determine the best way to organize content on the site. Each group received a separate exercise to get unbiased feedback. The reliability of this data will allow us to make the best decisions moving forward.
- Stakeholder Group - A stakeholder group of content owners and other influencers create a more meaningful connection and integration with the project. It allows the content owners to directly connect with user requirements and help better understand the new path for the Business and Finance website. The group meets monthly. If you are a content owner and would like to participate in Stakeholder Group meetings, please email sharedservices@uillinois.edu to be added to the group.
- Customer Advisory Group (CAG) - CAG provides the project team with an additional avenue for gathering requirements and allows the team to continue their engagement with the community. The group membership consists of focus group volunteers and those community members who were actively engaged in providing feedback that informed the requirements will be used. The group meets monthly. If you frequently interact with the OBFS website and would like to participate in Customer Advisory Group meetings, please email sharedservices@uillinois.edu to be added to the group.
- Community Engagement - Project Team Members frequently present updates and project progress during Business Manager Group (BMG) Meeting at the three universities. Additionally, the team distributes regular communications engaging with the community, soliciting feedback through surveys and focus groups, along with sharing regular updates and reached milestones.
Contact
If you have questions, please contact Derek Briles (Project Management) or Filip Przybysz (Change Management) at sharedservices@uillinois.edu.